AMBASSADOR BLACKWELL TO HEADLINE POLITICAL SCIENCE CONFERENCE AT ECU

Posted on: October 29, 2009

The three forms of citizenship experienced by people who are citizens of state, national, and tribal governments will be discussed at East Central University Thursday [NOV. 5] by the Chickasaw Nation's ambassador to the United States.

Ambassador Charles Blackwell, a 1964 graduate of ECU, will discuss "The Three R's of Three C's" at 7:30 p.m. in the Ataloa Theater in the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center. His presentation is part of the Oklahoma Political Science Association's annual meeting being held Thursday and Friday [NOV. 5 and 6] at ECU and is open to the public.

"The subject of our meeting is Citizenship in the 21st Century, so we are very excited to hear what Ambassador Blackwell has to say," said program chair Christine Pappas. "There are few people who have the unique understanding of citizenship that he has."

Blackwell is Chickasaw and Choctaw. At ECU he earned a bachelor's degree in education and was the founding president of the Epsilon Omega chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, editor of the campus newspaper and 1964's Student of the Year.

"Charles Blackwell's ECU education seems to have propelled him to reach great heights. It's an honor to have such a distinguished alum back on campus during our Centennial year," Pappas said.

Blackwell also received a law degree from the University of New Mexico in 1972 and worked for the American Indian Law Center before becoming the first Native American in the country to serve as a law school dean. He was appointed the assistant dean and adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Between 1974 and 1977, he helped place more than 700 American Indians and Alaskan Natives in law schools all over the United States.

From 1985 to 1988 he was a consultant and special advisor to Chairman Takuro Isoda of Daiwa Securities America in the World Trade Center.

In 1995, he founded Pushmataha House, named for the Choctaw chief who died on a diplomatic mission to Washington in 1824. From his Washington office, he oversees the Chickasaw Nation's diplomatic efforts and serves as the director of Native Affairs & Development Group, a firm he started in 1979.

In 2007, he was awarded the U.S. Department of Commerce Minority Business Development Agency's National Director's Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his many years of work in tribal business development.

Blackwell's visit will be underwritten by Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society.

For more information, contact Christine Pappas 580-559-5640 or cpappas@ecok.edu.

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